SARASOTA COUNTY -- Southwest Florida will soon be home to one of the largest organic and natural food distribution centers in the Southeast.

United Natural Foods Inc., a major player in the organic food industry, has yet to publicly announce plans to open its distribution center in 400,000 square feet of space at 6100 McIntosh Road.

But it already has held one of two job fairs to recruit the 160 or so workers it will initially need to run it.

The property, near Clark Road in Sarasota County, is the same one where Bradenton-based Bealls Inc. plans to occupy 200,000 square feet of distribution space. The mammoth building is a former Winn-Dixie warehouse bought in early 2006 for $30 million by Tampa's Meridian Development Group and a financial partner.

United Natural Foods was approved in April for the "Qualified Target Industry" tax refund program by the Sarasota County commissioners.

The company is awaiting final approvals from state government for the tax refund program, which is designated for businesses adding at least 250 full-time jobs that pay an average of at least 115 percent of the average wage in an area.

Sarasota County's average wage is $34,849, the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation reports.

Sarasota County has had two successful Qualified Target Industry applicants in the past: Teleflex Inc., which makes a host of sensors and other equipment at a plant in Lakewood Ranch, and Brook Chase Associates Inc., an executive search firm based in Sarasota.

United Natural Foods would be eligible for tax refunds of $3,000 for each full-time job it creates and $6,000 per job in an enterprise zone. There are additional bonuses if the jobs' pay exceeds 150 percent of the average annual wage.

The company, based in Dayville, Conn., carries more than 40,000 natural and organic products and serves more than 18,000 retailers, from big supermarket chains to independents.

Its subsidiary, Natural Retail Group, owns The Granary stores, both of which are in Sarasota.

The company reported sales of $2.4 billion in 2006.

There has been considerable growth in the organic products business, with even big names such as Wal-Mart getting into the game, said Barbara Haumann, a spokeswoman for the Organic Trade Association.

"Your core organic consumer is still going to shop at Whole Foods. The ones that may be shopping at Wal-Mart are consumers that never shopped organic before."

Shares of United Natural Foods trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange, where they closed Tuesday at $26.90, down 41 cents.